


I Got Your Back

by SPNxBookworm



Category: Mission: Impossible (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Grief/Mourning, Hurt Ethan, Hurt Will, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-30 15:06:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15754176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SPNxBookworm/pseuds/SPNxBookworm
Summary: It takes him about five tries before his eyes finally catch up to his commands and slowly, but surely, blink open. As the rest of his senses catch up (he hates being medicated) he hears a voice he'd recognize anywhere.Will.His companion, his person, his Will, is here.





	I Got Your Back

**Author's Note:**

  * For [iamremy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamremy/gifts).



> Ok, so first off, my apologies for being MIA for basically all of this year. I was interning and writing a thesis and basically I have now finished physical therapy school and will graduate in November. However, I am now back and will do my best to post as much as I can. 
> 
> Second, if you haven't seen Fallout, omg go watch it. While I desperately missed Will in the movie, it has also given me a billion fic ideas so let's see how many actually get published here, lol. 
> 
> Third, this is for my babe, Naila as I promised her a fic if she worked on her novel. Tbh, even if she didn't I'd still write fic for her because I adore her and after all the pain I've inflicted on her with my fics, this ones more on the lighter side and I think she won't curse me as much with this one xD 
> 
> This is basically my interpretation of what happens immediately post Fallout. I've been having the worst case of writer's block so I'm aware this isn't my best work. Also, not beta'd, just proofread by me but I know there's errors I could have missed. However, I've done the best I can, and I quite like how it turned out, so hear you go! Hope you all enjoy!

It takes him about five tries before his eyes finally catch up to his commands and slowly, but surely, blink open. Still feeling sluggish, Ethan frowns, wondering what it is that woke him up. He's still in Kashmir, he thinks, assessing his surroundings. As the rest of his senses catch up (he hates being medicated) he hears a voice he'd recognize anywhere.

Will.

His companion, his person,  _his_ Will, is here.

Struggling to keep the smile off of his face, he tries to listen in; which, in all honesty, isn't that hard as it's quite loud and exclamatory.  

"NUCLEAR BOMB?" Will exclaims, making Ethan jump. Shit, he's in trouble. 

"Keep your voice down!"

"Sorry." Ethan can't help but chuckle at the hasty apology. 

"Will,” Benji says, “you know him. Do you think he’d have refused this mission?”

Ethan hears Will sigh, and just like that, guilt seems to trickle into his system. It’s not that he didn’t think of Will during this mission, he’d have called Will in if the latter hadn’t been on a classified mission of his own.

The guilt, however, is because he knows that Will was probably worried sick out of his mind, like he always is when they get assigned separate missions. He loves Will with everything he has in him and Will knows that. And yet, sometimes Ethan can’t help but wonder why Will’s stuck around.

He’s hard to deal with, he risks his life on the daily, he's reckless and he knows Will doesn’t approve of it.

“No, you’re right, Benji. I’d have done the same thing if I was him, I know that,” he hears Will say. Ethan takes a deep breath, feeling a rush of affection for his partner.

“I’m just curious, you said you defused a nuclear bomb, was it close, time wise?” Will asks.

Ethan stills, eyes wide. Shit. Will isn’t gonna like this.

“Oh, that’s not important,” Benji answers and Ethan can imagine the look on Benji’s face as he tries to shift the attention off of what he knows was way too close a call; down to the last second literally. “The important thing is the bombs were diffused and everyone is alive and happy, for the most part.”

“Bombs? There was more than one?” Will asks, and Ethan grimaces. He can hear the incredulity in Will’s voice.

There’s a pause and Ethan doesn’t know whether or laugh or hide since he knows that Will is close to freaking out again.

“Yes, there were two,” Luther finally answers. “But we diffused them and that’s what matters, like Benji said.”

“How close was it?” Will asks again. Groaning, Ethan runs a hand down his face. Will is going to be too stubborn to let this go and any minute now, he’s probably going to come barging in demanding why it was so close.

“It was – “

“Ilsa, no!” Benji interjects.

“Come on, Benji, he’s going to find out sooner or later.”

Ethan physically tenses, bracing himself.

“One second." 

Silence. That wasn't good. 

"Okay, you got your one second, now please tell me," Will demands. 

"Will, that's how close it was," Benji says. 

More silence, and then Ethan hears a litany of swears and footsteps getting louder and louder until - 

"Ethan, you absolute - oh," Will stops abruptly in what Ethan knows would have been a tirade of words telling him how much of an idiot he was. To be honest he agrees with Will. But in his defense, he didn't see any other way in accomplishing their mission. He also knows that Will was expecting Ethan to be asleep and hence had suddenly cut off seeing Ethan sitting up and wide awake. 

It's then, seeing his partner that Ethan realizes that Will doesn't seem to have had a smooth run of his own either. Will's left eye is decorated with a black ring of bruises; along with a cut lip, his right arm is wrapped in a cast from wrist to just under the elbow and he's supporting all his weight on the right foot so Ethan immediately knows the left is injured. 

"I ought to kick your ass, you know that right?" Will says, folding his arms, glaring at Ethan. 

Ethan nods, knowing he deserves a lot worse with all the shit he's pulled over the years. "I missed you," he says, unable to keep his voice cracking on the last word. 

The next thing he knows, he's in Will's embrace, head on Will's shoulder and it just feels so safe, and so much like _home_  that Ethan can't keep his walls up anymore. Neither of them say a word as Will silently holds onto Ethan, rubbing soothing circles on Ethan's back as the latter finally lets his tears fall. 

Ethan doesn't know how long it's been, but he finally feels like he can compose himself. He lets go of Will, who situates himself by sitting at the foot of Ethan's bed, both his hands holding onto one of Ethan's. 

"It was bad, wasn't it?" Will voices, quiet. 

Ethan nods, not trusting himself to speak just yet. 

"I'm glad you're alive."

It's simple, it's one sentence, but it shows to Ethan how worried Will has been. He doesn't miss the shake in Will's voice, the quiet, careful tone, the way that Will is holding onto Ethan's hands, as if he'll disappear if Will lets go. 

"I'm sorry, for everything," Ethan says, feeling like he's lost count of the amount of people he's apologized to over the course of this mission. But Will needs to know. This particular assignment, it had gotten way too close. And he understood the stakes, the risk, the recklessness, everything. 

Will shakes his head, and Ethan is taken aback to see not anger, or disappointment, or fear, like he'd expected, but only love and concern in those striking blue eyes. "You have nothing to be sorry for. Besides, I'll let you off the hook because in all honesty, you look like shit." 

That startles a chuckle out of Ethan who immediately regrets it as the movement flares up the pain in his bruised and battered ribs. He tries to smile but is pretty sure it looks more like a grimace. "You don't look any better yourself," he retorts. 

Will shrugs. "Someone had to keep the rest of the Apostles off your ass." 

"What?" Fear grips at Ethan, wondering what Will had to go through. 

"While IMF has done great in taking down a good bunch of 'em, there are still a lot more out there and more keep popping up as they keep recruiting. My job started out a lot more straightforward than yours. Eliminate the targets, really. IMF didn't care if we turned them in alive, or dead, as long as they were off the streets, you know?" 

Ethan nods, knowing not to interrupt. 

"They're good, man. Really good, almost as good as us. So that didn't make things any easier. We'd finished handing in a target over to IMF for interrogation when things kind of turned south." 

"We?" 

"Yeah, it was a team assignment so it was me, Jane, Zhen and Declan. Hunley contacted me through a secure line telling me about you extracting Lane, and your suspicion about Walker." 

"Why?" Ethan voices, confused. He appreciates that Hunley kept Will in the loop, but doesn't understand why Hunley deemed it necessary to do so. 

"So we have teams out across half the countries scouting for locations of the remaining Apostles, gathering intel and all that, scut work, ya know? One of the teams reported in saying that Lark, who obviously we now know as Walker, sent out a message to an extraction team, for Lane." 

Ethan purses his lips. He knows this. "Yeah, I know. Hunley told me about the call, which confirmed my suspicions about Walker. I'm assuming he told you about the play to get him to let his guard down?" 

Will nods, smirking. "Smart move, asking Hunley to pin it on you in front of Walker." 

Ethan smiles back, rolling his eyes. "It made sense, given our history. I still don't see why that changed things for you, though." 

"Well," Will hesitates. "The same team also caught wind of some really bitter members of the Apostles who were kinda pissed off at you for having gotten Lane arrested in the first place. They were out for blood, and out to prove themselves to Lane. And they thought that if they killed you, it would get them higher up the ranks. I was scheduled to come back to HQ and then join you if you needed me but Hunley didn't trust anyone. IMF has had moles before so, you can't be too careful. I got assigned along with Jane to keep the rest of the Apostles off your tail, use any means necessary.

"And to keep a long story short, some of the fights and chases turned gnarly. Jane's back at HQ in the medical wing because of a broken ankle and a really bad concussion. She got hurt trying to chase two guys down in London. But we did what we had to, because we couldn't let these assholes get to you and jeopardize your mission. This?" he adds, holding up his right arm. "I chased down the remaining guys trying to get to you on the border of Kashmir and ended up with a broken arm. Nothing major." 

"You two got hurt trying to protect me?" Ethan worries, feeling guilty yet again. Will didn't call for backup; he chased down the remaining team to the border of Kashmir by himself. He shouldn't be surprised since both of them have shown recklessness when it comes to the other ones life. What he doesn't expect is Will reaching over and smacking him on the side of his head. 

"Ow!" 

"So us getting hurt protecting your ass isn't okay but you getting hurt and almost dying trying to save a third of the world's population is fine? Let me tell you, your ass would be worse off right now if it wasn't for us." 

Ethan is taken aback at the harshness in Will's tone. He stays silent, not knowing what to say. 

Will sighs, squeezing Ethan's hand. "All I'm saying is, I've got your back. And while I'm mad that you all almost died, I'm glad that Hunley tipped me off and assigned us to protect you. Because I'd do it all over again, and so would Jane. Remind me to thank Hunley when we get back." 

A jab of pain goes through Ethan, and it's not because of his injuries. 

Will doesn't know, which means he'll have to break the news. He knows Will saw the flinch when he mentioned Hunley at the end. 

"What?" Will asks and Ethan's heart breaks recognizing the dread in Will's voice. 

"Hunley, he...he didn't make it."

Will gets to his feet, hands flying into his hair, horror and grief etching every line on his face. 

"I'm sorry, love," Ethan supplies, feeling pathetic. What else can he say? He feels just as bad, if not worse. The previous secretary was shot in front of him and Hunley died having Ethan's back. 

"Shit," Will curses, voice thick and Ethan knows his partner is holding back tears. "Who? Who did it?" 

"Walker, his team." 

Will closes his eyes, hands fisting in his hair and he takes a few deep breaths before coming back to Ethan's bedside and sitting down. He clears his throat, "Well, Luther told me he's dead so I'm glad that bastard is fucking gone." 

"Me too." 

They sit in silence, content in each others company, sharing their grief through looks and comforting touches. It's a long while before Will finally asks again, "it was _really_ close, wasn't it?" 

"Yeah, it was." 

"I'm _really_ glad you're alive." 

"I'm glad you're alive too, Will. I'm sorry." 

"Nothing to be sorry for." 

Comfortable silence falls between them yet again, both lost in their own thoughts until Will breaks it once more. 

"Call me next time?" 

Ethan frowns. "What do you mean?" 

"I know this time things were different and we both had our parts to play. But next time something world ending happens, I'd like to be by your side protecting and fighting along with you in person." 

"So basically that's you saying you wanna make sure I don't do stupid shit and if I do, you'd rather supervise than be in a totally different country?" 

Will nods, serious. "Exactly." 

That's when the tension finally breaks. Ethan starts laughing despite the pain in his ribs and Will can't help but join in. "So?" Will asks when they finally manage to compose themselves. "How about next time you call me and we can stop it from getting to a nuclear bomb diffusion situation?" 

Ethan grins, ear to ear. "Agreed." 

And he knows he's definitely keeping his word because if he's being honest with himself, he'll have it no other way. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Feedback is love, as always! 
> 
> Also no one can argue the idea that if Will had been in Fallout, things would have gone a lot more smoothly. xD 
> 
> P.S. I'm working on a more lengthy fic for Mission Impossible, set after Ghost Protocol. I don't know how long it may take me to plan and write but I do hope you like it if I ever decide to go through and actually post it.


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